O&P is defined in terms of property, and so uses property as its ethical
foundation. People are born owning themselves, under the guardianship of
parents. As adults, people have the right to hand over some or all of
their self-ownership. Respect for property rights requires that O&P must
be entered with the freely given informed consent of the submissive.

As such, consent is both a defining characteristic of O&P, and something
derived from its fundamental concepts of the ownership or possession of
property.